Jump at the Chance to Celebrate Leap Day with these Fun Facts & Fun Sales!

Robyn Norgan

Feb 29, 2016

Happy Leap Day! This special day only comes around once every four years, which means if you were born today you're actually only a quarter of your age, right? 2016 has the honor of having 366 days instead of the usual 365 thanks to today. But do you know why we have to add this extra day to the calendar every four years? Well, we'll tell you the answer to that question as well as any other questions you have (or didn't know you have) about Leap Day. Plus, we'll give you the opportunity to celebrate this extra day with some awesome sales: $1 .SPACE, $2.90 .ONLINE, and $2.90 .TECH!

Why Does Leap Year Exist?

First things first, why do we have leap day anyway? Although we think of a year as being 365 days, an actual year - and by that I mean the time it takes the Earth to orbit around the sun - is 365.24 days. Since it would be as difficult to add a quarter of a day to every year as it is to actually have the average 2.4 kids, we simply add an extra day to the year every four years. If we didn't, the Earth would be out of sync with the seasons, which would compound over each year - getting farther and farther off track. For example, if we didn't have Leap Day, our calendar would off by approximately 24 days in just 100 years! So thanks for keeping us on track, Leap Day!

Leap Day Traditions

Watch out boys! One of the most well-known Leap Day traditions is that today is the day that women propose to men (though I personally don't see why that can't happen on any other day, but whatever). That's right, this old Irish tradition, featured in Time's Worst Film of 2010 movie, Leap Year, is attributed to St. Bridget who supposedly struck a deal with St. Patrick to give women a day to propose so they don't always have to wait for their men as Anna was doing in the movie. Apparently this deal also included a penalty for any man who refused a proposal. Upon refusal, he would owe the woman compensation such as silks or kisses, though it seems to me that most women probably wouldn't want kisses from a man who just turned down their proposal...

Leap Day, Leap Year, and Leap Month?

You heard me right (or read me right?), there is also a Leap Month! As you know, we recently celebrated Chinese New Year. Since Chinese New Year was over a month away from the New Year celebrated January 1, you obviously know that the Chinese calendar differs from the Gregorian calendar (basically the former is lunar and the latter is solar). In the Chinese calendar, there are only 354 days in a 12 month year. So, to keep up with the seasons, a "Leap Month" is added to the calendar every 2-3 years. The Leap Year then has about 384 days due to the addition of the Leap Month. Although this year is a Leap Year in the Gregorian calendar, it's not in the Chinese calendar - but 2017 is!

An Unlucky Birthday

In Scotland, it's considered unlucky to be born on Leap Day. Whether or not you believe in superstitions such as this one, being born on a day that doesn't exist during most years can be an annoyance. As "leapers" (people born on Leap Day) know, February 29 is not always a valid date for government agencies, insurance companies, banks, and more. This leaves them with two options: February 28 or March 1, but technically neither of these dates are correct, bringing up more potential issues. But hey, the good news is you can join the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies and, technically, you're always only a quarter of your age. Hey, maybe being born on Leap Day is the true fountain of youth!

An Impossible Domain Expiration Date

If you take advantage of our awesome $1 .SPACE, $2.90 .ONLINE, and $2.90 .TECH sales today, your expiration date can't be 2/29/2017 since that day doesn't exist. Instead your expiration date will be 2/28/2017. Now it may seem like you're getting 1 less day with this scenario, but you're actually not. You're getting 365 days of registration for any domain registered today, tomorrow, the next day, and so on. However, if you'd registered your domain yesterday, 2/28/2016, you would've gotten an extra day! Of course, if you keep your domain until 2019, the year before the next leap year, you'll start getting extra days again starting on 3/1/2019.

Even though you don't get an extra day, you do get an extra discount! Celebrate Leap Day by registering your very own .SPACE online, branding yourself as part of the .TECH world, or just getting .ONLINE for the first time with your very own domain. All three domains come with access to our free website builder, so you can have the whole package all in one place. Leap Day is the perfect day to take a leap of faith and try something new. Why not try registering a new domain name on a new domain extension!